[Bordermarch] 12th Night

[Lathrop, Dave]

Greetings Noble Bordermarch,
 
  !2th Night has come and gone, leaving us with fond memories of friends
and good times. Thanks to all who helped make this gathering such a
special time for all.
A special thanks go to Lord Maurice and his lovely wife Lady Angelica
for taking care of the needs of so many with their skillful organization
of the activities and food preparation for the evening.
Thanks go to HE Caitrin for providing the King cake and the wonderful
basket of gifts for the children. HE Armand deserves recognition for
just being there and looking so good.
HE Amber Lea and friends sang for the group and let me butcher some of
her music with my guitar playing. HE Valencia was there to greet
everyone at the door with a huge smile and warm welcome.
Countess Mistress Tessa could be found hanging banners everywhere and
helping with decorating High Table. She was not alone because her
manboy, Sir Simonn, was there waiting with baited breath for her next
command.
The Rapier fighters fought throughout the day, entertaining us and some
bystanders who happen to stroll by and watch. Lord Sasha was entrusted
with  Bordermarch's Rapiers Glove because of his improvement in his
martial skills
throughout the year and his overall contribution to our Rapier
community. Lord Vaclav Slovaczek was presented with a token bee for the
award named in his honor. It is a service award that is given to those
who go way beyond
the norm in their service to the group. Lord Diego, Lord Phocas and Lady
Meresankh were the first recipients of the Slovaczek award this year,
congratulations!
Lord Adolf received a token award for butchering the Kings English more
than anyone else in the group. He also spear-headed the Bordermarch
Special Task force that was deployed to help one of our guest unlock
their car. The keys were inadvertently
left in the vehicle, (like that's never happened to us has it
Elisabeth?). Lord Adolf was manning the coat hanger while Lord Shasha
held the door ajar with a special tool designed for this task, a
screwdriver. While the A-team was messing with the coat-hanger
method our own HE Armand decided to try his luck at picking the lock for
the trunk. HE Armand worked his magic and cast his spells, but the lock
must have been warded against paperclips because all his efforts were
fruitless. I saw a movie once where a 
guy just slammed his fist on the trunk real hard and it popped open, so
decided to give it a try. Unfortunately, Lord Adolf's fingers were in
the trunk when I decided to slam it down. His eyes bugged out of his
head and he once again he butchered the Kings English. 
Finally our Special Task force had to admit defeat and a locksmith was
called.The locksmith promptly opened the door and in no time our guest
were on their way home, no doubt wondering if our A-team of up and
coming car-jackers could tie their boots in the dark.
A special thanks go to Lady Asatriona inghean Padraig for her
fashionably late entrance. She looked so lovely in her Kelly green gown
mesmerizing everyone with her beauty as she walked down center isle to
her seat. You could see it in her eyes 
as her hand went to her mouth, " Oh my goodness!  Is everyone looking at
meeeeeeee?"
Lady Lyllianne The Poetess decided to challenge me to a round of Bells
and Pillows. As you all know, Bells and Pillows is a competition that
requires each contestant to try to hit the other while blindfolded as
well as having bells 
strapped to their arms and legs. One must take great care to listen for
the movement of your competitor and when you think they are near you
swing the pillow and try to hit them before they clobber you. 
Lady Lillianne has played this game many many times and this was only my
second time to play. The first was earlier against my Lady HE Elisabeth.
She conned some of our group into cheating for her and of course she
won.
It was a hollow victory indeed and those who helped her win will
certainly suffer with cramps and boils for a long time. 
Lady Lillianne used her uncanny skill to stalk me like a lioness would
stalk a water buffalo. She never realized that I am used to running
around blind. I have been scaring my children for years by turning off
the lights and sneaking up on them while they 
screamed in terror on their beds. My children seemed to think it was fun
when I behaved like that and now that their grown they do it to me. 
I felt some air movement inches from my head and knew it was Lady
Lillianne coming in for the kill. I threw my arm with the bells attached
off to the side to distract her for only a second and it worked. She let
go with a barrage of wild shots with
her pillow directed towards my distraction and it was then that I let
her have it. Unfortunately my pillow hand made contact with her lip.
When the blindfolds were removed she was holding her hands to her mouth
and I was afraid she had really 
been hurt bad. Too my relief it was only a minor tap to her mouth and
she would recover soon. Although, when her eyes met mine I knew that she
would somehow pay me back ten-fold for the pain I had caused her that
night. She keep pulling back her lip to 
show me her wound which was turning red and swelling a bit, but she
could still move her mouth a little and with her skill as a trained Bard
I felt that even with crippled lips she would do well in any upcoming
Bardic competition.
Even though I now have to watch my back around Lady Lillianne I can say
with all honesty that Bordermarch's 12th Night remains one of my
favorite times of the year.
 
HE Santiago